Eungella satinash—red and white

Scientific name

Acmena resa (red), Syzygium wesa (white). Family: Myrtaceae

Other names

Red eungella gum; white eungella gum; watergum (both)

Description

  • Grows large in North Queensland.
  • Trunk moderately buttressed.
  • Bark is flaky on both species.

Occurrence

  • Occurs in highland areas from Proserpine to Cooktown, including the Eungella Range.

Appearance

Colour

  • Red eungella satinash (RES) heartwood is pink to red-brown.
  • White eungella satinash (WES) heartwood is pale grey to yellow-brown.
  • Sapwood is greyish yellow.

Grain

  • Generally straight, short and open.
  • Often moderately wavy.

Uses

  • Construction: structural building framing, flooring, plywood.
  • Decorative: flooring, panelling.
  • Others: turnery.

Properties

  • Density: red eungella satinash is 785kg/m3 and white eungella satinash is 755kg/m3 at 12% moisture content; about 1.3m3 of seasoned sawn timber per tonne.
  • Strength groups: red—(S4) unseasoned, (SD5) seasoned; white—S4 unseasoned, SD5 seasoned.
  • Stress grades: F7, F8, F11, F14 (unseasoned); F8, F11, F14, F17 (seasoned) when visually stress graded according to AS 2082—2000: Timber—Hardwood—Visually stress-graded for structural purposes.
  • Joint groups: red—JD2 seasoned; white—J3 unseasoned, JD2 seasoned.
  • Shrinkage to 12% MC: not available.
  • Unit shrinkage: not available.
  • Durability above-ground: Class 3 (life expectancy 7—15 years).
  • Durability in-ground: Class 3 (life expectancy 5—15 years).
  • Lyctine susceptibility: untreated sapwood susceptible to lyctid borer attack.
  • Termite resistance: not resistant.
  • Preservation: sapwood readily impregnates with preservative.
  • Seasoning: slow to dry, be careful seasoning to avoid checking.
  • Hardness: moderately hard (rated 3 on a 6-class scale) to indent and work with hand tools.
  • Machining: hard to work.
  • Fixing: no difficulties using standard fittings and fastenings.
  • Gluing: glues well.
  • Finishing: readily accepts paint, stain and polish.

Identification features

General characteristics

  • Sapwood: greyish yellow.
  • Heartwood: red-brown (RES) and yellow-brown (WES).
  • Texture: fine to medium and uniform; grain slightly interlocked.

Wood structure

  • Vessels: small to medium, very numerous, but more so in WES; solitary and short radial multiples; vessels lines not obvious; both often show whitish vessel deposits.
  • Parenchyma (soft tissue): difficulty to see under lens.
  • Rays: barely visible to the naked eye, and tends towards 2 distinct widths.

Other features

  • Burning splinter test: match-size splinter from both timbers will burn with some crackling to leave a charcoal tip and black non-adherent ash.
  • Note: both timbers differ only in colour.

Research and resources

  • Boland, DJ, Brooker, MIH, Chippendale, GM, Hall, N, Hyland, BPM, Johnston, RD, Kleinig, DA and Turner, JD 2006, Forest trees of Australia, 5th ed., CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
  • Bootle, K 2005, Wood in Australia: Types, properties and uses, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
  • Ilic, J 1991, CSIRO atlas of hardwoods, Crawford House Press, Bathurst, Australia.
  • Queensland Government, DAF 2018, Construction timbers in Queensland: Properties and specifications for satisfactory performance of construction timbers in Queensland. Class 1 and Class 10 buildings, Books 1 & 2, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane.
  • Standards Australia, 2000, AS 2082—2000: Timber—Hardwood—Visually stress-graded for structural purposes, Standards Australia International, Strathfield, NSW.